"The total for the 3 rooms with full overlays and a couple of carefully chosen bells & whistles (knife drawer, trash roll-out, etc) is ~ $18k. The cost for 'Chandler Color' is $6,600. Proportionately, that sounded crazy to us," - The proportion does seem a bit off at first until you understand what goes into the process. With the original estimate you are paying for the "bells & whistles" in addition to the cost of the cabinets themselves. The cost of the "paint" is most likely because the 'Chandler Color' is a custom color/finish, in where the manufacturer may have to run the cabinets through multiple processes in order to achieve the desired look and therefore resulting in more time and labor costs. You can ask your manufacturer for a break down or an explanation as to what exactly goes into this secondary process which may make you feel better about spending the extra money. "the cabinet maker is far superior to that of hiring a painter to paint them." - If your manufacturer is doing these processes correctly in a clean and controlled environment your result will be well worth the extra expense, especially if it is the color you really want. Hope this helped put you mind at ease. Best of luck!

I would love to add shiplap,but which wall? I would add shiplap to every single wall... of my mother-in-law's house. In all seriousness, the way shiplap caught the public's attention means it was well on its way out of style before it ever caught on. I wouldn't bother with it, you will probably hate it in much less than 12 years. I wouldn't bother trying to spend money to make that kitchen look a little bit better, nor would I pay any money to reface it. There are better options out there for a much more functional kitchen that fits your taste and isn't throwing good money after bad. I would start by posting dimensions here and seeing what this community can come up with. Good luck

When you paint cabinets you have to use a particular kind of paint and follow a multi-step process in order to get a result that will last. You should do some research and then choose the white from the available whites in the right kind of paint. Also, there is no way for anyone to tell you remotely which white is going to work. Our perception of color really depends on the lighting, and colors don't look the same online as they do in person. The only way to find the right color is to sample. However, no matter which white you end up with, stainless steel is a good choice for new appliances.

Flo! Thanks so much! That should look great. 👍 I found some nice reviews for those lights, so now I just have to order them. :) I attached some kitchens that were kind of like what I was looking to do. I hope mine isn’t too far from these. I went looking for that quartzite you mentioned, but didn’t see any. There was mostly Taj, marble ( which is my fave), granite, and quartzite. They had a less expensive marble there, but it was kinda busy looking. I wonder if I could just do a bead-board for the backsplash? Or, just part of it? Would that look strange in a white kitchen? Maybe I can paint the cabinets later? You have been so helpful, since I’m crazy right now. Can’t even thank you enough.:)🤗